The Virtual Musette: A Road Cycling Blog

I was somewhat disheartened after reading a recent interview with Remy Di Gregorio (photo, right), a young up and coming climber on the French Francaise des Jeux squad. When asked about legendary climbers of the past, such as Bahamontes, Ocana, and Van Impe (photo below), he had this to say: “That’s not my generation. I’m not really a student of the sport, or a historian. I’ll watch old clips if they’re on TV, but beyond that…” Hmm, so if it weren’t for stumbling across footage on TV, Di Gregorio, a pro, would know almost nothing about the champions of bygone eras. Well, at least he has the luxury of catching some cycling history on the tube. We here in the States should be so lucky, and it is one of the primary reasons I launched this site – I wanted to provide another window on the past for fans of pro cycling.

I recently asked a fellow blogger (to remain anonymous) to provide a link to The Virtual Musette on their site, as I had provided a link to his/her’s here. The response went something like this: “I might, but your site just has too much of a focus on cycling history." Uh, okay. I   guess I’ll take that as a “no” to providing the requested link, as I plan to continue marching to my own beat, thank you very much.

Of course, not all my articles are related to cycling history, as evidenced by the recent post featuring Linus Gerdemann. To date, the most popular article on this site was the one written about Astana’s exclusion from the ’08 Tour. I’ll agree, nothing sells like current news, especially when controversy is involved. That said, there are already a ton of English language websites, blogs, and forums focused on the current race scene. My day wouldn’t be complete without my regular fix of cycling news, but I wanted to do something a little different with The Virtual Musette.

I started following pro cycling right around the time Greg Lemond was recuperating from his hunting accident in the spring of 1987 (the 1986 Tour winner took a shotgun blast to the chest when his brother-in-law heard some rustling in the bushes, thought Greg was a wild turkey, and pumped him full of lead). Those were back in the days when the only real sources of news on the Euro scene in the US were VeloNews and Winning. I would practically camp out at my local bike shop in eager anticipation of the arrival of each new issue of these publications, as I was too broke to afford an actual subscription. VeloNews was certainly a godsend for fairly timely news, but Winning brought it all to life. Andy Hampsten’s epic journey through the snow and sleet of the Gavia pass in the ’88 Giro, and Greg Lemond's triumph in the pouring rain at the '89 World Championships (photo, above right) were the stories and images that sparked my passion for the sport.  Of course, it was literally months after these races had been completed before the magazine ever made its way into my hands, but I devoured the stories and photos as if I hadn't known of the outcomes well in advance.  God, I miss Winning, and to this day I wonder what happened to the magazine; it just seemed to disappear sometime during the late 90s.

Those were also the days before OLN (Outdoor Life Network, or the Only Lance Network, as it was sometimes affectionately called).  Daily coverage of Le Tour on TV didn't exist; back then The Greatest Show on Earth was televised on CBS Sports. An entire week’s worth of racing in France was boiled down into one broadcast on the weekend, which was at best an hour-and-a-half in duration. The most infuriating part of this coverage was that you were never quite sure when it was going start, and how much of the broadcast was going to get dropped. On the West Coast, Tour coverage usually followed a live broadcast of some kind. I cursed the programmers for CBS for the many times my beloved race was preempted for the benefit of some damn car race or golf tournament.  Erratic TV schedule aside, I have fond memories of those early Stone Age Tour broadcasts, along with their cheesy John Tesh (photo, left) music and cheesy John Tesh narration.

Anyway, up until the Lance years, cycling coverage was not exactly abundant. Then Big Tex (photo, right) started his domination of the Tour, and along with it came the explosion of the internet.  Today we even have live coverage of most of the Classics (at least when Cycling.tv is actually working).  Yet, despite all the increased access to cycling information over the past decade, I found that I still knew very little about the sport’s history. Over the past several years I’ve undertaken a concerted effort to familiarize myself with earlier decades and time periods, particularly that of the late ‘40s through the mid ‘80s. I’ve obviously been a diehard fan for quite some time, but my newfound appreciation for sport’s rich cast of characters before the Lemond years has taken my obsession to new heights.

This blog was the inevitable outgrowth of my infatuation with pro cycling.  I felt compelled to share my enthusiasm with a new generation of cyclists and fans, and with those who might want to learn more about the legends, races, and lore of our sport. One day, maybe I can look back and smile, knowing that The Virtual Musette, in some small way, played a part in making sure that the giants of road, and the tales of their epic deeds, were not forgotten.  Ultimately, if I can help to deepen someone's appreciation for the sport, then this site will have accomplished its mission.  

Photo credits:  Remy Di Gregorio, CyclingFans.com; Lucien Van Impe, Flickr gallery of Michiel Crijns; Greg Lemond, Cycling Hall of Fame; John Tesh, DavisLamdaChi.com; Lance Armstrong, BBC Sports. 

As reviewed in the first two installments of this series, WWII robbed four of the greatest cyclists of the post war era (Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Ferdi Kubler, and Fiorenzo Magni) of a good portion of their careers. Since I’m going to factor in these missing years when ranking these cyclists against others from the Modern Era, then some consideration should also be given to the other marquee riders who had to contend with injuries, which may have affected their most productive years. 

In a horrendous motor paced track accident in 1969 Eddy Merckx (photo right) suffered a concussion and a cracked vertebra, worse, his pacer driving the derny was killed instantly. Although it’s hard to believe given “The Cannibal’s” absolute domination of the sport for the six years following the accident, Eddy claimed he was never the same and suffered for years with back pain, especially while climbing. It’s intriguing to think that the most prolific winner of all time could have possibly won even more, or perhaps could have extended his career. 

Louison Bobet (Photo left) was tormented by severe saddle sores throughout his career, a condition which ultimately required surgery after he suffered through his win in the 1955 Tour de France. These were no mere boils, as 150 stitches were required to close gaping wound. Ouch. Yet, despite this ongoing affliction, Bobet still managed to win three consecutive Tours (’53-’55), a World Championship (‘54), and every Monument save Liege. Did his recurring problem cause him to lose out on more victories? 

 Both Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon (photo right)  were sidelined by knee injuries. Hinault’s injury caused him to abandon the 1980 Tour, although he did go on to win the World Championship later that year. “The Badger” went on to win the Tour in both ’81 and ’82, but the injury flared up again, and he was forced to miss the event in ‘83. Hinault returned for the ’84 Tour, but was soundly defeated by the young Fignon, who had also won the previous year in his first attempt at La Grand Boucle in Bernard’s absence. The tables turned in 1985 and it was Fignon who would sit on the sidelines with his own knee problems. Unable to defend his crown, “The Professor” would helplessly watch Hinault go on to capture his fifth, and final, Tour de France. 

It’s fair to say that Fignon never really regained the form from his early career, even though he did go on to claim the ’89 Giro. Unfortunately, poor Laurent will probably always best be remembered not for his victories, but for his crushing final time trial defeat at the hands of Greg Lemond in the last stage of the 1989 Tour. Fignon had narrowly missed his third win in the most famous of races by a mere eight seconds; his highest placing afterwards would be a sixth in 1991, ironically just one spot ahead of Lemond.

None of the great champions mentioned above suffered what could be considered a career ending injury. The case can certainly be made that Merckx, Bobet, Hinault, and Fignon all could have won more had it not been for their setbacks, but none of them had large chunks of their cycling careers “lost,” as did Bartali, Coppi, Kubler, and Magni during WWII. It should also be noted that Coppi struggled throughout his career with both illness and injury, and it’s absolutely amazing that he was able to accomplish so much given all his bad luck. 

Of course, this discussion would not be complete without mentioning the down time of America’s two great Tour champions, Greg Lemond (photo left) and Lance Armstrong. Their stories have been well documented elsewhere, and are quite familiar to even casual fans. Suffice to say, Lemond was shot in a hunting accident in 1987, and Lance Armtrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. Both returned to the top level of the sport, but both also effectively lost two full years of their cycling careers due to their setbacks. 

In the end, I have chosen to use a Missing Years Adjustment Formula to compensate all of the following for their time off the saddle: Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Ferdinand Kubler, Fiorenzo Magni, Greg Lemond, and Lance Armstrong. Certainly, this approach is not without its faults, but I think it paints a more accurate picture of the true potential of cycling’s greatest riders. 

Remember, this series of articles is part of a greater work, The Top 25 Cyclists of the Modern Era.  As the next step in this process, I’ll explain the entire point scoring system, including the Adjustment Formula mentioned above, and all the races I’ve chosen to include. The various pieces of this puzzle will eventually fall into place, and all of this background material will make a lot more sense once the whole project is completed. All of these related articles can be accessed in a special area of this website. First locate the “Navigation” section in the shaded area to the left, and from there, click on the “Top 25 Cyclists…” 

As always, thanks for reading.

Photo credits:  Eddy Merckx, Stephen Vanfleteren/Panos Pictures; Louison Bobet, L'Equipe; Laurent Fignon, original source unknown; Greg Lemond, Greg Lemond Official Web Site

In doing some research for another article, I came across a very surprising statistic – only two cyclists have won both the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders. Ever. The Tour’s inaugural edition was in 1903 and the Tour of Flander’s (Ronde van Vlaanderen) was in 1913. That’s a long time, and it’s hard to believe, but to date only two riders have managed to capture both of these races.

So, who were the two cyclists to pull off this extremely rare feat? If you’ve think you’ve got it figured out, then click on the names from the list below. If you’re correct, you’ll be taken to the rider’s biography compliments of Cycling Hall of Fame. If you’re wrong, you’ll be treated to a classic photo (for all the wrong reasons). Remember, your looking for both of the correct names, not just Merckx (duh). Also, next to the names are the dates of their Tour wins.

 Philippe Thys (’13, ’14, ’20)

 Adre Leducq (’30, ’32)

 Gino Bartali (’38, ’48, and still the record for the longest span between victories)

 Fausto Coppi (’49, ’52)

 Louison Bobet (’53-’55)

 Jacques Anquetil (’57, ’61-’64)

 Felice Gimondi (’65)

 Jan Janssen (’68)

 Eddy Merckx (’69-’72, ’74)

 Bernard Hinault (’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’85)

 Greg Lemond (’86, ’89, ’90)

 Laurent Fignon (’83, ’84)

It is also worth mentioning that there have been only three other Grand Tour winners to have also won Flanders: Rudi Altig (’62 Vuelta), Fiorenzo Magni (a three-time Giro winner who won a stunning three consecutive Flanders from ’49-’51), and finally Gianni Bugno (winner of the ’90 Giro, photo left). Bugno’s Flanders win came in 1994, becoming the last Grand Tour winner to accomplish the feat.

As a comparison, 12 cyclists have achieved victory in both the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix. Since only two have been able to accomplish the even more rare Tour/Flanders combination, the conclusion would seem obvious – the Tour of Flanders must be the most difficult single-day race on the calendar. Agree or disagree? I’d love to hear your opinions. 

Photocredits: (Above right) The legendary Roger de Vlaeminck grunting his way up trecherous Koppenberg.  I am not sure of the year of this photograph, but Roger did win Flanders in '77, along with capturing his record-setting 4th Paris-Roubaix that same Spring Classics season. Compliments of Wikipedia/Mick Knapton.  Gianni Bugno, Bike Race Info.

On the 3rd of November Cycling Revealed will kick off their annual Winter Trivia Contest. I’ve written about this before, but for the uninitiated here is how it works: Each Monday, November 3 - March 30, CyclingRevealed.com posts a five-question quiz. Usually this "test" is of the multiple choice variety, but sometimes you will have to fill in the blanks. You will have 3 minutes to complete each quiz, so there will be no time to Google an anwer. Each quiz is worth 15 points, and the leader board is periodically updated, usually at least once a month. All the details can be found here, but you will not be able to register until the first quiz is posted. There is no prize for the winner, other than the huge bragging rights that are conferred with wearing the crown of King or Queen of Winter Trivia. It’s loads of fun (yet, quite stressful at the same time), and it’s a great way to bone-up on your cycling history.

I will be registering along with many of my friends over at Podium Café, which is a unique, and quite popular, cycling website. PdC, as it’s known to the regulars, is a combination of a traditional cycling blog and fan forum. The blog contributors can be anyone who is registered with the site through SB Nation, which is an entire network of similar fan supported sports websites. Blog entries are created through the “Fanposts” section. Many folks simply choose to participate in the forum discussions via the “Comments” area of each blog heading, at least until they get the hang of things. PdC is the only cycling forum in which I participate; absent is the mean-spirited harpooning that goes on at many of the other forums. Forum *“trolls” are definitely not tolerated, and are quickly ostrasized from the group. New members are definitely welcomed with open arms, so don’t be afraid to create a login and start participating in the chatter. If you would like to expand your knowledge of the professional road racing scene with a great bunch of knowledgable, passionate, and gracious cycling fans, then you will definitely want to visit Podium Café.

*Forum "trolls" are people that go from site to site trying to create disharmony amongst the forum members.  These individuals get some type of sick satisfaction out of being a complete jackass.

All images compliments, and copywrites of, Cycling Revealed and Podium Cafe.

Well, it’s been awhile since my last post, as other things having taken priority (the usual stuff - work, kids, riding, watching the Tour).  Anyway, I’ve got several articles that are already written, and will make their appearance in the near future - the completion of the “Missing Years…” series of articles, and the larger work to which it belongs, “The Top 25 Cyclists of the Modern Era.”

Since my last post, a lot has happened: Carlos Sastre won Le Tour; Alejandro Valverde claimed the Classica San Sebastian; Sammy Sanchez fought his way through the lung-choking smog of Beijing to capture Gold at the Olympics; Tyler Hamilton came back from the dead, and is now the reigning US National Champion; and Alberto Contador, with his recent victory in the Vuelta, became only the fifth cyclist to win all three Grand Tours (joining Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, and Bernard Hinault). Of course, all this pales in comparison with the announcement of The Second Coming of Lance Armstrong. Get used to it folks, as Big Tex is going to suck the life out of every story, and every other cylist’s accomplishments, in the coming months. I guess you know where I stand on his return to the peloton. So, before it becomes all Lance, all the time, I felt it would be good to focus on the success of one of my favorite riders, Linus Gerdemman, before he gets forgotten in the long shadow soon to be cast by Armstrong.

Almost barely noticed in the cycling headlines this past month (due to an appalling lack of media coverage) was Linus Gerdemann’s return to the top level of the sport with his victory in the Deutschland Tour (Tour of Germany). He laid the foundations for this win by capturing the King Stage (oddly, the Germans prefer this nomenclature to the traditional Queen Stage). It was certainly confirmation that the young 4^th year professional had fully recovered from his horrible crash in a time trial at the Tirreno-Adriatico back in March.

Gerdemann won the second stage mountaintop finish despite a mishap in the closing kilometers, which nearly cost him the victory – his radio earpiece came loose, landed on the chain, and from there worked its way into his rear derailleur. He considered changing bikes, but figured that would have cost him even more lost time. He could have easily panicked, as the group behind was in hot pursuit. In the end, he kept a level head, took care of his problem, and captured the stage ahead of his own Columbia teammate, Thomas Lovkist, by a mere 17 seconds. Astana’s young mountain goat, Janez Brajkovic, also finished in the same time as Lovkist, but was pipped at the line, finishing 3^rd. Columbia protected Gerdemann’s slim lead for the remainder of the race, and Linus sealed his overall victory by finishing comfortably ahead of all his closest rivals in the final 34km TT. The young German had won his first professional stage race.

The Queen/King Stage was a monster – 178 km (108 miles) with the riders facing three rated climbs - a category 2, followed by a category 1, and then a finish at the top of another category 1. This stage profile says it all:

As testament to the difficulty of the stage, Dennis Menchov (winner of the ’07 Vuelta and 5^th in this year’s Tour de France) abandoned the race, simply too exhausted to continue. Bernard Kohl, 3^rd in the Tour, finished 9:18 in arrears. The winner of the D Tour’s two previous editions, Jens Voigt, finished 8:48 adrift. Also left in Gerdemann’s wake were the following noted climbers: Pietro Caucchioli, Jose Rujano, David De La Fuente, Haimar Zubeldia, and Vladimir Karpets.

This was no ordinary win, and Gerdemann’s victory had demonstrated he could challenge in the high mountains. His win in last in year’s Tour (stage 7) was impressive, but did not involve the amount of climbing encountered in Germany. Of course, a victory in the Tour is always considered more prestigious than those of other stage races, but as a comparison, the stage in France was over a profile which consisted of one category 3, followed by a category 4, then the category 1 Col de Columbiere, finally culminating in a downhill run to the finish (which was a hair-raiser, as Gerdemann had to bomb down the descent to hold off a chasing Inigo Landaluze).

So, does this victory serve as a harbinger of things to come in a Grand Tour? Gerdemann held up well during the first half of last year’s Tour de France in his first attempt at the race. He showed excellent form through the Alps, where he earned both the yellow and white jersey after his stage 7 win, although only holding both for just a day. Linus paid for his efforts by giving back some time on the following stages, but then showed strength in the stage 14 TT (54 km) by finishing 14^th, coming within two minutes of eventual winner Cadel Evans (after the initial victor, Alexander Vinokourov, was later disqualified for blood doping violations). Entering the Pyrenees, Linus looked well on his way to a top 10 placing, but finally the length of the race caught up with him, and he lost huge chunks of time in the leg breaking high mountain passes during the third week. Despite his difficulties in the Pyrenees, Linus finished the race strong by once again placing very well ( 15^th) in the final long TT (55.5 km), 3:17 behind stage winner Levi Leipheimer.

When the dust settled on the 2007 Tour de France, Linus Gerdemann had finished a very respectable 36^th place. This year’s third place finisher, Bernard Kohl, was a DNF in his first appearance and finished 31^st in ’07. Here’s some more food for thought: Bernard Thevenet, a two-time Tour winner, was 35^th in his first Tour appearance; Louison Bobet, a three-times winner, did not finish in his first Tour attempt; Miguel Indurain was a DNF in his first two Tour appearances, only finishing in 97^th place in his first completion; and finally, even Lance Armstrong failed to complete the Tour in his first two attempts.

For those who may be thinking I’m getting a little too excited about Gerdemann’s chances for Grand Tour fame, it should be noted that he did not start riding until he was 17. Given that he is now 26, and does not even have a full decade of riding in his legs, it is very possible that his endurance will take a giant leap in the next couple of years. That jump should allow him to stay strong throughout a three-week race. Earlier this year he finished 3^rd behind Alessandro Ballan and Fabian Cancellara in the extremely difficult Monte Paschi Eroica, demonstrating that he is continuing to improve quite rapidly. He was on pace to actually beat Cancellara in the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial, a 26 km test over a twisting, technical course. Unfortunately, his crash after a nasty 12% pitch, just before the finish, ended his ambitions (photo, above). In spite of his obvious pain and the severity of the crash, Gerdemann changed bikes, remounted, and went on to finish the stage in 8^th place, just 1:16 in arrears. After he crossed the finish line he was whisked away by ambulance, the full extent of his injuries revealed later – unbelievably, he had completed that final kilometer with torn knee ligaments, and a fracture to both his upper and lower leg. Yes, balls of steel.

I believe Linus Gerdemann possesses all the requisite skills to become a Grand Tour champion – he can climb, time trial, descend, hang tough with the one-day studs, and he can certainly ride through pain. All that remains is to develop his endurance, which will certainly come with time. It also is refreshing to know Linus has been an outspoken critic of drugs and cheats in the sport long before it was fashionable to do so. Surely, since Team Columbia has an internal testing program, we won’t have to guess whether or not any of his wins have been “assisted.” Let’s hope Gerdemann’s injuries are a thing of the past, because he’s just the kind of guy cycling needs right now. It will be interesting to see if he can become one of the dominant cyclists of his generation. I’m guessing he will.

Postscript: Gerdemann is not going to compete in the '08 World Championships in Varese due to a nagging stiff neck. The problem has persisted since the 3^rd stage of the Tour of Germany, and he is in a great deal of pain after just a few hours in the saddle. I hope this is not a chronic condition related to his crash earlier in the year.

Photo credits:  TDF stage 7 podium, Flickr gallery of guano; D-Tour 1st stage podium, Team Columbia; D-Tour stage 1 profile map, Tour of Germany; T-Mobile, Flickr gallery of incuboy; Tirreno crash, Roberto Bettini; High Road in Tirreno, Team Columbia.

Although Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi were the two most prominent examples of those who had careers interrupted by WWII, two other great cyclists from their era also suffered similar fates - Switzerland’s Ferdi Kubler (photo, right)  and the “third” great Italian, Fiorenzo Magni. Kubler, who was the Tour winner in 1950 and World Champion of 1951, had turned professional in 1940. Magni, who turned pro in 1941, was a three-time Giro champion (’48,’51 and ’55) and is still the only three-time consecutive Flanders winner (’49-’51).

Those four great champions all lost roughly five years from their careers, yet still managed to amass an incredible number of victories in the most prestigious races. By the late 40’s they not only had to compete amongst themselves for wins, but by then both Switzerland’s Hugo Koblet (the first after Bartali and Coppi to win both the Giro and Tour), and France’s Louison Bobet (the first three-time consecutive Tour de France winner, ’53-‘55) had also entered the scene; it was truly the Golden Age of Cycling. Once again we have to wonder just how many more significant wins could have been gained by Bartali, Coppi, Magni and Kubler from ’41-’45 when there were two fewer legends of the sport vying for those same victories.

To help add some context to all those lost war years, imagine if we were to erase five years of results from two of cycling’s more recent legends, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. Further, how would the palmares of both “The Badger” and “Big Mig” now look if we removed those years when they were at the height of their powers, about six years after they had turned professional, similar to Bartali’s situation. Hinault, who turned pro in 1975, would lose the years ’81-’85. For Indurain, who turned pro in 1984, we would erase the years ’90-‘94.

Bernard Hinault won an amazing 10 Grand Tours during his career, second only to Eddy Merckx who bagged 11 victories. Hinault stands alone as the only cyclist to have won every Grand Tour more than once – five Tours de France, three Giro, and two Vueltas. He also had nine Classic victories, which included three of the five Monuments (Paris-Roubaix, Liege, and Lombardia). Hinault was also World Champion in 1980. If we were to remove the results of ’81-’85, his list of major accomplishments would have been as follows:

Tour de France, 1978 and 1979

Giro d’Italia, 1980

Vuelta, 1978

Liege, 1977

Lombardia, 1979

World Championship, 1980

Eight of Hinault’s 12 Grand Tour podiums would have been erased, along with six of his ten outright victories (three Tours, two Giro, and one Vuelta). Gone too would be his sole Paris-Roubaix victory of 1981. All told, still a very illustrious career, but based on my scoring system, “The Badger” would drop from one of the highest ranked riders down to around 15^th place.

Miguel Indurain was the first five-time consecutive Tour de France winner (’91-’95). In the midst of this phenomenal string of victories he also won the Giro twice, and in back-to-back years for good measure (‘92-’93). If we were to remove five of his peak years (’90-’91), the results would obviously be devastating. In the end, Indurain would have wound up with only one Tour victory in 1995, and would not have amassed even enough points to make the list of the Top 50 greatest cyclists. If “Big Mig” had suffered a five year career interruption in his sixth year as a pro, like Bartali, his true potential would have never been revealed. Indurain’s results prior to 1991 were certainly no indication of the dominance that was to follow, as his highest Tour placing up to that point was a 10^th in 1990.

I am in no way trying to diminish the accomplishments of either Hinault or Indurain in the above examples, but rather illustrate what was potentially lost by all the great champions during the war years. I don’t see how any type of ranking system, which is based on points scored in races, can properly address this issue unless some type of adjustment is made to compensate for these missing years. I’ll lay out my solution to this problem in the conclusion of this series.

As always, thanks for reading.

Photo Credits:  Ferdi Kubler, Aldo's Pic of the Day; Bernard Hinault, Memoire du cyclisme/Jean-Marie Letailleur; Miguel Indurain, cdlibre.org 

Earlier in the year I posted the trailer to the Road to Roubaix documentary, and this morning the following arrived in my inbox:

I know this is making the rounds at the Bicycle Film Festival, which is not coming to my area.  For those of you who have had a chance to see Road to Roubaix, it would be great if you could let us know what you think by leaving a comment.  I'll be posting a review as soon as I can.

Here is the link to the production company with pre-ordering information.